All Major Professional Sports Leagues Go Purple for Bullied LGBT Youth

The White House today joined GLAAD and millions of Americans in ‘going purple’ for Spirit Day in a stand against bullying and to show its support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.

The move comes after thousands signed a Change.org petition started by anti-bullying advocate Katy Butler, which called on President Obama and Governor Romney to wear purple for Spirit Day on October 19.

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The White House turned its official Facebook, Twitter and Google+ icons purple for Spirit Day. Butler continues to urge Romney to take a stand against bullying.

This morning hosts of CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, ‘Good Morning America,’ ‘Live! with Kelly and Michael,’ ‘TODAY’, and ‘The Wendy Williams Show’ were wearing purple on-air. Ginger Zee of ‘Good Morning America’ and Willams gave Spirit Day a special shout out on-air. Andy Cohen and his guests were also in purple last night on ‘Watch What Happens Live.’

GLAAD previously announced that hundreds of celebrities including Reba McEntire, Ricky Martin, ‘Honey Boo Boo,’ her uncle Lee Thompson, and cast members of Jersey Shore would be participating. See more more names below or for a full list updated in real time visit: www.glaad.org/spiritday/entertainment

For a full list of participants, an anti-bullying resource kit for students and parents as well as Spirit Day digital apps visit glaad.org/spiritday and follow #SpiritDay

In an unprecedented show of support, GLAAD announced this week that the six most prominent American major sports leagues — The National Basketball Association (NBA) / Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and NASCAR’s diversity program — will also ‘go purple’ for Spirit Day. The leagues join athletes like Shaquille O’Neal and Terrell Owens.

This morning all Major League Baseball teams turned their team Twitter photos purple.

“From sports leagues to faith institutions to national monuments, schools and celebrities, millions of Americans will unite this week in an extraordinary show of support for LGBT youth and in a stand against bullying,” said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. “At a time when 8 out of 10 LGBT youth report being harassed at school, it’s now more important than ever that we let every young person know that it’s okay to be who you are.”

Viacom’s brands will be participating on-air, online, through social media and employee engagement efforts. MTV, VH1, Logo, TV Land and TeenNick will turn on-air logos purple on Spirit Day; MTV, VH1 and Logo will turn online logos purple as well and support through social media, VH1.com, LogoTV.com and NewNowNext.com, which will be posting feature stories and never-before-seen “It Gets Better” clips. MTV will turn its 44 ? high-definition screen in Times Square purple for the day. The cast of TeenNick’s ‘Degrassi’ and ‘Victorious’ star Avan Jogia will be wearing purple and Viacom, BET, CMT and Paramount Pictures will also support the day through social media. MTV stars, including ‘Jersey Shore’ cast members DJ Pauly D, Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley, Sammi Giancola and Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi will also participate.

Comcast and NBCUniversal will participate including NBC owned stations, Telemundo network and owned stations. Hosts of “Access Hollywood,” CNBC, and E! News, among others, will wear purple. Hosts of “Extra,” “the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and “The Wendy Williams Show” are also confirmed to participate.

The Sundance Channel will also participate by turning its on-air and web logos purple for Spirit Day on October 19. Additionally, the network will go purple on its social media pages and share photos of Sundance staff in their Spirit Day purple.

The ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign’ will be turned purple and several hotels on the Las Vegas strip will light their marquees purple with an anti-bullying message, GLAAD previously announced with R&R Partners Foundation. In addition, the Duke Energy Tower in Charlotte, NC will join the New York Stock Exchange, Thomson Reuters’ Times Square screen, the LAX Pylon Lights and JFK traffic tower in lighting up purple for Spirit Day on October 19.

American Apparel, the vertically integrated clothing manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, launched a Spirit Day store featuring the company’s purple clothing items. Spirit Day supporters will receive a special 10% discount on the purple items by using the promo code ‘SPIRIT’ at check out. American Apparel will also donate 10% of all ‘purple proceeds’ to GLAAD.

Each year GLAAD coordinates hundreds of national and local organizations, schools, celebrities, media, sports leagues, corporations, parishes, faith groups and landmarks. GLAAD is also working with gay teen Katy Butler who is calling for President Obama and Governor Romney to wear purple on Friday. Her Change.org petition has garnered thousands of signatures: http://glaad.org/purple2012. Earlier this year, Katy launched a Change.org petition to call on the MPAA to change the rating of the documentary BULLY.

Celebrity participants and Spirit Day Ambassadors are also encouraging fans and supporters to donate to GLAAD, GLSEN and The Trevor Project by texting ‘PURPLE’ to 80888 to make a $5 contribution. AT&T is the exclusive underwriter of the Spirit Day Text Purple campaign.

In addition to the ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign, Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands Corporation, Treasure Island, The Tropicana Las Vegas and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will also turn their resort marquees purple along the Las Vegas Strip 11 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. and then again 10 p.m. 10:15 p.m. The Fremont Street Experience will also go purple for Spirit Day at 10 p.m. and again at 11 p.m., lighting its famed Viva Vision canopy, which consists of more than 12 million LED lights and spans four city blocks. Organized by The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (The Center), a meet-up for teens and young adults will take place that evening at the Fremont Street Experience. Marquee Nightclub, located in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, will host a Spirit Day after-party with special celebrity host NHL star Sean Avery.

GLAAD and Toyota Financial Services last week announced the release of the “Go Purple for #SpiritDay powered by Toyota Financial Services” apps for iPhone and Android. The app provides users with anti-bullying resources, calls to action, and a tool that can turn photos purple and share to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The free app is now available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play. To download, visit: http://GLAAD.org/spiritday/app

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second largest school district with more than 640,000 students in over 900 schools, will participate by sharing information about Spirit Day with students on its website and through its social media channels.

Other sports organizations include the You Can Play Project, GLAAD partner Athlete Ally, GO! Athletes, and UK Rugby champion Ben Cohen’s StandUp Foundation. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), like the NBA, will be taking part in Spirit Day for the second consecutive year. USA Track & Field will also participate by providing support through social media.

In 2010, teenager Brittany McMillan called on her friends to wear purple as a way to memorialize those who lost their lives to bullying. With GLAAD’s help, Spirit Day has since garnered widespread support from celebrities, TV news and entertainment programs, corporations, organizations, schools, local communities, and even national landmarks. Spirit Day coincides with GLSEN’s Ally Week, as well as National Bullying Prevention Month.

“Showing support for your friends, family and teachers can make all the difference in the world to young LGBT people, whether they are going through a tough time or not,” said 17-year-old McMillan. “This year, Spirit Day is going to be bigger and better than ever, and I’m so thrilled to be going purple alongside some of my favorite celebrities, as well as millions of others in a united stand against bullying.”